WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
—— ft above typical
Finding the top signal on the water…
Live river level, flow, historical records and forecast for West Branch Susquehanna River at Lewisburg in PA, United States, built from official government gauge data.
The West Branch Susquehanna River in the Lower West Branch Susquehanna watershed, Pennsylvania, is gaged at Lewisburg.
This station has more than 50 years on record.
The high-water mark in the record is 24.38 ft (7.43 m), set in September 2011. The low-water mark is 0.77 ft (0.24 m), set in September 2020. That spread is the range this river has shown at the gauge, and it is wide enough that dock height, bank access, and shallow crossings can change a lot from one season to another.
Seasonally, the river is usually highest in March at 5.86 ft (1.79 m) and lowest in September at 1.73 ft (0.53 m). The typical annual swing is 4.1 ft (1.26 m). For anyone drawing water, launching a boat, or watching for high-water access, that is the band the site has to live within most years.
The station drains 6847 sq mi (17734 km2) upstream of the gauge. That is the catchment above this station, not the whole watershed on a map.
For this part of Pennsylvania, the seasonal pattern fits the broader Appalachian and piedmont rhythm: winter-spring rain and melt set the annual peaks, while summer low flows are common. Late-summer floods can still arrive when tropical remnants track through. At this location, the record backs that up with a September high and a September low in the archive, so autumn can bring both ends of the range.
The hero number on this page is today’s river level compared with the median for this calendar day across the station record. That is more useful than raw elevation alone because it tells you whether the river is running normal for the date, not just where the water surface sits.
USGS operates this station. With more than 50 years on record, that daily median is built from a long local history, so it gives a better read on whether today is low, near normal, or high for this time of year.
Readings come from official government gauges and are rolled into daily records: the daily mean, high and low for every day on record. Each calendar day gets its own baseline from the full history, so the level you see is compared against what this specific date usually looks like rather than an annual average.
Real-time water levels, forecasts, and alerts for lakes and rivers across Canada, the US and the UK. Built on official government data.
Nibi Metrics tracks more than 13,000 gauged lakes and rivers across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, reading directly from official federal monitoring networks: the Water Survey of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, Quebec's provincial hydrometric network, and the Environment Agency for England. Every number on the platform is measured, not modelled - taken from a government gauge on the water itself and compared against that location's own historical record for this exact date.
The level right now, in feet or metres, updated as the source agency publishes new readings - for many stations that is every five to fifteen minutes. How today compares to typical: every location carries its own typical-for-this-date band built from its historical record, so a reading is never just a number - it is above, below, or near what this water usually does on this calendar day. Which way it is moving: a measured RISING, FALLING, or STEADY verdict computed from the gauge's own recent readings, with the rate of change - the difference between a flood ending and one beginning. What comes next: level forecasts up to 72 hours ahead, driven by the gauge's recent behaviour, upstream water, and quantitative precipitation forecasts, alongside live radar, lightning, and weather for the surrounding region.
Set a threshold on any location - a level, a distance above typical, or a rate of climb - and Nibi emails or notifies you the moment the gauge crosses it. Cottagers use it for spring freshet, anglers for river conditions, marinas and municipalities for operations. The scanning runs around the clock against the same measured data shown on every page.
Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin. The platform began at a family cottage on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, where the spring melt floods the shoreline most years and the only forecast was standing on the dock, looking, and guessing. It grew into an independent, member-funded platform run by Muskoka Research Inc. - no investors, no data resale, and a privacy policy shorter than most cookie banners. The core data is free for everyone, forever; paid plans add automation like multi-location alerts, deep history, and reports.
Nibi spans the continent: every Canadian province and territory with active federal gauges - from Vancouver Island rivers to the Muskoka lakes, prairie reservoirs, and Quebec's hydrometric network - and the United States from Maine to the Texas Hill Country, the Ohio Valley, and the Pacific Northwest. Coverage grows where the water news is: when a basin floods, its gauges join the platform with their full historical records attached. Many stations report every five to fifteen minutes; most report at least hourly; every page states exactly when its gauge last spoke.
The core promise is simple: the water data is free, for everyone, forever. Live levels, maps, radar, and recent history never sit behind a paywall. Paid plans fund the platform by adding automation - multi-location alerts, decades of history, longer forecasts, and PDF reports - so the people who need more carry the cost for everyone who just needs to check the lake before driving up. There are no investors and no advertising deals shaping what the data says.
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